Serena Williams was successful in her opening round match at the Rio Olympic Games. The London gold medalist comprehensively exited Daria Gavrilova with a 6-4, 6-2 win on Centre Court. The American needed just an hour and 31 minutes to oust the second-ranked Australian.
Williams stays in control to take first set
The American-Australian pair kicked off their second career meeting on Serena's serve. The world number one is coming off a title at the year's third major and carried her momentum into the early stage of her opener. Despite facing three break points in the first game, she pulled off a clutch hold to begin the match on her terms. Gavrilova went to serve her first service game, but she was unable to hold, giving the American a quick 2-0 lead. However, the Aussie broke right back before Gavrilova held to level the scoreboard. Williams managed to escape a tough service game to inch ahead three games to two and eventually went on to capture a break to 30 to extend her advantage.
The intensity rose which made for rather interesting exchanges from the baseline. Serena was determined to storm through her first set in Rio as her game looked to be working for her and she found herself a game away from a one-set edge. Gavrilova refused to be overplayed by the one seed. The Australian stayed alive in the first set with a hold which gave Williams the chance to serve out the set. Unfortunately for Serena, she was unsuccessful as she was broken to love, but she quickly rebounded and stole the crucial break to conclude an enticing 48-minute opening set.
Gavrilova runs out of steam, Wimbledon champion advances
Serena started the second set where she had left off as she was the first to get onto the scoreboard in the second set. An early exchange of holds made up the first three games of set number two. However, the top-ranked player worldwide ended the holding trend with a break to 30 and she suddenly began to have a firm grip on the match. Gavrilova was not done yet as she held a lead in her American opposition's next service game, but Williams marched on to clinch her third consecutive game. The Aussie found herself trailing arguably the best player of all time by a score of 6-4, 4-1.
There was no stopping the world number one as she held two break points to increase her second set lead to five games to one. In spite of holding two break points, Serena did not capitalize which let Gavrilova have a possibility of a comeback. However, a comeback seemed a little far fetched after the defending gold medalist increased her lead to 6-4, 5-2 thanks to a quality hold in the match's late stage. Gavrilova attempted to serve to keep her comeback hopes alive, but she fell short and lacked answers for the power and placement from Serena. Williams wrapped up the first-round match with a break to 15 after a Gavrilova ground stroke sailed long.
22-time Grand Slam champion faces Cornet next
Williams goes head-to-head on Monday against a player who has past success versus the top seed. Alize Cornet has two victories over Serena as well as a walkover and a retirement win over her. They meet for the first time in two years and in spite of their recent results, Williams is deemed the heavy favorite.
